Tesco investigates video showing home delivery van almost hit cyclist

TESCO is investigating a shocking video which shows a recklessly overtaking home delivery driver almost knock a cyclist off his bike.

The cyclist can be heard shouting and swearing in panic as the van comes within inches of hitting him after the driver swerves to avoid oncoming traffic.

The footage was filmed on the cyclist’s helmet cam as he and his wife cycled on a country road near Pitlochry, Perth and Kinross.

The cyclist, who was in single file with his wife behind, is forced to slam on his brakes to avoid colliding with the van as it starts pulling back into the road early to avoid smashing into oncoming cars.

The video, taken at 5pm on September 19 on the A924, starts with a white saloon car pulling back in after safely overtaking the cyclists with plenty of time and space ahead of an approaching vehicle.

Moments later however, the screams of the cyclist can be heard as he shouts: “Woah, you f****** idiot.”

A Tesco delivery van enters the shot at high speed and cuts off the cyclists as the driver rushes to get back to the correct side of the road ahead of the oncoming car.

The van makes it with seconds to spare but is inches away from clipping the cyclist and narrowly avoiding a head on collision with another vehicle.

As the clip ends, the cyclist yells, ‘What the f*** is that?’ as the driver slams on the brakes to slow back down to the speed of the traffic.

Alex Robertson, the cyclist from Edinburgh who captured the footage, slammed the driver’s actions and says the incident put his and his wife’s lives at risk.

He said: “There were two of us riding single file. The van had just turned from the same side road as us so we were not a surprise. He knew we were there.

“He chose to overtake when there was clearly a vehicle coming towards him and he had two of us to get past.

“I had my brakes on to slow down to avoid the back of his van which obviously put my wife in the position of also having to jam on the brakes.

“This is a quiet rural road leading into Pitlochry. He gained nothing by overtaking here. He could have waited one minute and overtaken safely but followed the cars in front blindly putting two lives at risk.”

A spokesman for Scotland’s Worst Drivers, who obtained the clip, said: “The van driver was clearly not paying much attention to what was going on ahead, as not only did he overtake a cyclist at very close range, but he didn’t even notice the vehicle heading in the opposite direction.

“The cyclist also had to dodge a pothole, at the same time as watching out for the van. If the Tesco van driver had waited a little moment longer, he could have performed a safe overtaking manoeuvre.

“Driving like this can cause serious injuries. Thankfully however, that never happened on this occasion.”

A Tesco spokeswoman said: “We set our drivers the highest standards so we are concerned to see this incident. We are investigating and will update the cyclist with our findings.”

Road experts recommend that a driver should leave as much space when overtaking a cyclist as you would a car – at least 1.5m (4.92ft).

Around 55% of road deaths in Scotland occur on country roads, with most a result of driving too fast for conditions.